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The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

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Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#31

Post by barbazoo »

noja wrote: post #23
kiba wrote: post #5

Some feature requests for hearing aid: Can we get hearing aids that are bigger? These small hearing aids make it easier to lose, and I do not mind looking "disabled" to people. Also would like to use bluetooth to both locate the hearing aids, and to connect to devices as needed. Would be cool if the battery can be recharged as needed, maybe through usb-c if possible, but magnetic charging would be acceptable.

Two questions if you don't mind: Do you charge one ear at a time so you are never without some level of hearing? Can you comment on the Live Listen feature of AirPods?

You usually charge them at night.

Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#32

Post by jedimastert »

kristofferR wrote: post #7

Contact lenses next? It's amazingly stupid that I, as a tourist, who knows exactly what types of contacts I need, may need to get a US prescription for contacts.

Is that true? I've ordered all of my glasses online for the past few years, and they've never asked for anything other than a form to fill out.

Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#33

Post by Turing_Machine »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #14
kristofferR wrote: post #7

Contact lenses next? It's amazingly stupid that I, as a tourist, who knows exactly what types of contacts I need, may need to get a US prescription for contacts.

Then the doctor leaves their signature off the prescription so that it is effectively useless.

I've had no trouble ordering from online retailers such as Zenni Optical just by typing in the numbers from the prescription. No signature needed. They do ask for a prescription date, and require that to have been within the last two (I think it is) years, but as far as I can remember it's all on the honor system. They don't even ask for the doctor's name.

Edit: it occurs to me that this may very well be one of those things that's dependent on state laws, so your mileage may vary. Worth a try, in any event.

Edit 2: and yeah, this is for old-school glasses. The requirements for contacts may be more stringent.

Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#34

Post by jedimastert »

TylerE wrote: post #13
cf100clunk wrote: post #2

"People with mild or moderate hearing loss" should be free to purchase these sort of generic hearing aids in much the same way that buying non-prescription reading glasses is common. If problems persist, it is time to consult a professional.

An improperly tuned hearing aid can make your hearing worse though...actively causing further damage.

So can wearing reading glasses you don't need.

Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#36

Post by kfprt »

causi wrote: post #3
cf100clunk wrote: post #2

"People with mild or moderate hearing loss" should be free to purchase these sort of generic hearing aids in much the same way that buying non-prescription reading glasses is common. If problems persist, it is time to consult a professional.

Heck, imagine if prescription glasses were only available from government-certified vendors. We'd be back to paying $700 a pair like the bad old days.

Glasses are a huge ripoff due to the industry being a monopoly with no help from the government.

Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#37

Post by 0des »

jtwaleson wrote: post #22
kristofferR wrote: post #7

Contact lenses next? It's amazingly stupid that I, as a tourist, who knows exactly what types of contacts I need, may need to get a US prescription for contacts.

Do you mean contacts or glasses?

Surely it's not glasses, I just go to the website and punch in my measurements, pick frames and they arrive shortly after.

Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#38

Post by bckygldstn »

tshaddox wrote: post #26
kristofferR wrote: post #7

Contact lenses next? It's amazingly stupid that I, as a tourist, who knows exactly what types of contacts I need, may need to get a US prescription for contacts.

Is this really a problem in practice? I've always had a valid prescription when I buy glasses, but at the glasses store I just flash them the prescription on my phone for a few seconds. It's a PDF on official looking letterhead, but I don't think there's any verification. I suppose it's probably not the best idea to fake an eyeglass prescription, but it certainly seems like it would be very easy to do.

* I had an optometrist only give me a prescription for glasses, even though I indicated I wear contact lenses on my intake form and was wearing them at the appointment! When I realised a few days later after being denied trying to buy contacts with a glasses prescription, the optometrist said I would have to come in again and pay for a full consultation (out of pocket as my insurance only covers one per year).

* I've tried to buy contacts online in the US with an expired prescription, the retailers say their hands are tied, they need a current dated one.

I now just buy contacts online from Europe or New Zealand. No BS, same price, the EU company I buy from includes a mini bag of haribo gummies :)

Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#39

Post by nonameiguess »

cf100clunk wrote: post #8
kiba wrote: post #5

Some feature requests for hearing aid: Can we get hearing aids that are bigger? These small hearing aids make it easier to lose, and I do not mind looking "disabled" to people. Also would like to use bluetooth to both locate the hearing aids, and to connect to devices as needed. Would be cool if the battery can be recharged as needed, maybe through usb-c if possible, but magnetic charging would be acceptable.

I would add better integration with mobile devices beyond bluetooth. I'm thinking a startup could create hearing aids with self-tuning apps that employ spectral analysis and echolocation capabilities for improving situational awareness of the wearer.

High-end hearing aids already do this on-device. I don't think it would be a great development to require hearing aid owners to own a smart phone and load an app onto it to be able to get full functionality out of their hearing aids. If the functionality needs to be externally configurable for some reason, provide an external controller that comes with the hearing aids.

Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#40

Post by becurious »

braum wrote: post #12
cf100clunk wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just elderly people. Rechargable devices would be a boon.

I wear hearing aides every day. SMALLER would be better and mine have BT5 and rechargeable. they are NOT cheap about $6k pair with 3 year complete warranty included. Again having options is the best thing, making them larger for me would mean they are more easily dislodged when I bend over to pick something up or are wearing them when working in shop. Having some that have better weather or fully waterproof would be…

I stopped wearing my Oticon Opn S hearing aid when running because they don’t seem happy with sweat on a long run. That and wind noise can still be an issue. Also only having hearing loss in one ear means that they’re not really good for streaming audio but I do love being able to take phone calls with my hearing aid.

I’m ok with the cost since it’s effectively half for me and really $3K six or seven years would be fine considering the quality of life improvement. Being in large group meetings with multiple teams discussing project planning could be painful for me. And it helps with your relationship. When there’s a background noise source like road noise or AC or a running faucet your brain will fill in based on the frequencies it can hear and you will hear completely different words.

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